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| Avenue F (aka Brick Street) |
Now, of course, a street paved in brick is not really unusual in and of itself. In fact, there are many towns across Texas that have streets of red brick. My understanding is that as towns became more prosperous, one of the first signs was that they would begin to pave their streets this way. I've been told that many times the city would employ convicts to lay the brick as a part of their "earning their keep."
What made this particular street stand out to me was that it is the only street in town that is bricked the entire length of the city. Of course, the square around the court house is brick, but this street doesn't go by the court house. In fact, it really doesn't go anywhere. It's just a straight shot down the middle of town, connecting two highways. The longer I lived here, the more people I asked about this bricked street.
As I asked around, I discovered that while officially the street that runs in front of our church is named Avenue F, no one in town ever refers to it as such. In our community everyone calls it Brick Street (yes, we are very creative here). But other than that no one I spoke with had any information for me.
The longer I lived here, the more intrigued I became with Brick Street. Periodically, I would drive through town along this historic by-way and marvel at the beauty of the work. At each ally the brick would go partway off the main street. And at each intersection, the brick is laid out in a different design from the row upon row found along the rest of the way. But then one day I noticed something I had not seen before. In three areas of the street, all on the east side, there were patches in the street. Instead of brick, entire sections of the street would be asphalt.
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| One of the asphalt patches |
My mind began to whirl. What had caused these patches? Had the city needed to tear out part of the brick in order to fix a water main? Maybe something else had happened to the brick over the years and the city had to resort to asphalt instead of brick. I spent months trying to figure out this strange occurrence. And then my observational powers went into full force. One day as I drove I noticed that one of the patches had a border around it. It looked as though at least this one patch had been purposefully not bricked. That really made me think.
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| Notice the decorative border on this patch |
Now I was thoroughly confused (a rather common scenario for me). Why would the patch have a border? What was the purpose in showcasing the patch? My first guess was that originally there was a flower bed or some other decorative item out in front of the house. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized this was not possible. I thought about this conundrum for several months. And then one day I asked the person I should have asked to start with: Mr. Ken Lane.
Ken has lived in Haskell for his entire life. He knows more about our community than almost anyone in town. I always enjoy visiting with Ken and I have a lot of respect for the man. One of the main reasons I respect him is that he is always honest with me. I always know where I stand with him and his opinion holds more weight in my mind than many other people I know.
Anyway, one day I asked Ken about these patches along Brick Street. He chuckled as only he can and said "Those are spots in the street the people wouldn't pay for." I told him I still didn't understand. So he told me the whole story. Apparently Avenue F was originally the main thoroughfare in Haskell. It was the highway that connected Stamford to Weinert. As Haskell got more civilized, the city decided to pave this main highway. But since it was so expensive, the people who lived along the street and who would benefit from the paving the most, were asked to help foot the bill. Each household along the street would pay for the section that ran in front of their house. The three spots along the street were in front of homes of people who chose not to pay. So the city decided that instead of paving the entire street that they would leave those spots blank. Ken said the best thing about those places in his day was that when it rained the dirt would turn to mud and the kids would play in the mud spots on their way to school (but that's a story for another day).
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| One of the many beautiful homes lining Brick Street. This one is paved with brick out front. |
Obviously, I don't know why those people chose not to participate in paving Brick Street. Maybe they didn't have the money. Maybe they thought the idea was foolish. But regardless of their reason, the entire city of Haskell continues to pay for what they didn't do. We continue to reap what they sowed.
In Philippians we read "Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort in love, any sharing in the Spirit, any sympathy, complete my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, being united, and agreeing with each other. Don't do anything for selfish purposes but with humility think of others as better than yourselves. Instead of each person watching out for their own good, watch out for what is better for others."--2:1-4
So as we enter into the Thanksgiving season, let's remember these words of St. Paul. Let's do things without selfish purpose but with an attitude of giving more than we receive. Let's not exhibit selfish natures. Instead let's serve the least of these and reach out into our wider communities, dedicated to being the hands and feet of Christ. And just as important, let's look within our own faith community and see what we need to do in order to make our congregations stronger and more vibrant. Let's agree to do our part and pave our church's Brick Street all the way to the end. Until next time...
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